Altered Heresy
by wacko12
Summary: Rewrite of the first one! Read, Enjoy and Review!
1. Heresy

**I'm still working on The 20 Primarchs story, but I just had to let this out. Enjoy and Review. I also got the idea from the Dornian Heresy by Bolter and Chainsword.**

In the Mid M31 the Emperor of Mankind's Great Crusade to unite all of humanity across the galaxy came to a tragic end. It all began with the Ullanor Crusade. The Ullanor Crusade was a vast Imperial assault on the Ork empire of the Overlord Urrlak Urruk during the Great Crusade of the early 31st Millennium. The Ullanor Crusade marked the high point of the Great Crusade's vast effort to reunite the scattered colony worlds of humanity. The Orks of Ullanor represented the largest concentration of Orks ever defeated by the military forces of the Imperium of Man at that time. During the mighty celebration on Ullanor, the Emperor announced that He would return to Terra, and that Horus, Primarch of the Luna Wolves would command the Great Crusade in His stead.

Some say that the Ullanor Declaration was where the seeds of disaffection were planted amongst the Primarchs, with one of their number being so publicly elevated above the rest. In truth, the rot had started long before. Because one of those Primarchs was Rogal Dorn, Primarch of the Imperial Fists, felt jealous of his brothers. Even though he was given the honor of standing by his father's side, his lack of participation in the field of battle gave his legion less of a reputation then it did for his brothers. However Dorn kept this dark emotion to himself. More horrible things occurred during the Council of Nikaea disputes over the use of psychic powers came to a head at Nikaea, with legions vehemently split over their use. The Emperor's final ruling, and the special concessions he gave to the Thousand Sons, enraged Primarch Leman Russ and his Space Wolves Legion. They saw Nikaea as a terrible mistake, and secretly vowed to save the Emperor from himself.

On the feral world of Davin, Warmaster Horus was struck down by a mysterious contagion, which baffled the finest of the legion's apothecaries. During his recovery, Horus attended an initiation ceremony of one of Davin's primitive warrior lodges, known as the Hall of the Knife of Bone, after which the Warmaster's condition dramatically worsened to critical. After the Ullanor Declaration, the cracks began to appear. It was in fact an act of possession by a powerful warp entity, although at the time the concept of the daemonic was widely regarded as errant superstition. Only with the aid of the psychic might of the psychic Primarch Magnus the Red of the Thousand Sons, and spiritual counseling from Primarch Lorgar of the Word Bearers, could the entity finally be cast out. Having narrowly escaped their snare, the Ruinous Powers turned their attentions elsewhere for a new champion.

When Horus had slipped from their clutches, the Ruinous Powers had moved to groom another for the role of Arch-Betrayer. Rogal Dorn was chosen for his potential to bring the entire Imperium crashing down. They preyed upon and magnified his feelings of jealousy at being passed over as Warmaster, despite being loyal to his father and assisting him in his numerous ventures. Dorn had sought to drown out these shameful doubts of his father's judgment and withdrew into his private quarters on Inwit the planet where he grew up. But as the pressure increased, he spent longer and longer in his private quarters, until eventually it unhinged his mind, and the Pantheon of Chaos claimed him. He was not beholden to one, but to the glory of Chaos Undivided.

Back on Prospero, Magnus begins to have strange visions of betrayal and war. Unsure of this he meditated and continued to try and figure what these images meant. Dorn first set his eyes on Russ, who he knew was still unhappy with the choice the Emperor made about psykers. He used words of deceit on the Primarch, that the Emperor was being manipulated by Magnus, who saw Russ as a fool and a drunk. The rage within the Space Wolves Primarch became more and more potent, making a path for Khorne to claim the legion as his own. The raging thoughts soon led to one conclusion: the only way to stop Magnus was for Russ to go against his father's wishes and attack Prospero, annihilating the Thousand Sons legion.

Russ launched a massive invasion onto the planet of Prospero, catching the Thousand Son's fleet unprepared. However Magnus alongside Ahriman took command of the situation and managed to repel the attackers. However the Space Wolves had already begun to dig deep into the powers of the Warp, summoning daemons of Khorne to attack the planet. The more they attacked the rage inside them grew and their bloodlust too with Russ proclaiming his loyalty to the Blood God while standing on top of a pile of corpses. It was so much that soon many of them were nothing more then mindless beasts. In order to by time, Magnus and his veterans stood against the oncoming attack while the rest of the legion took as many of their books and other relics onto their ships, as well as evacuating civilians. Once all was done, Magnus let out a psychic blast to push back the enemy, allowing himself and his veterans to escape onto the remaining ships.

During that time Dorn set his eyes on the next key player for his soon-to-be rebellion: Roboute Guilliman, Primarch of the Ultramarines, the largest Space Marine Legion. With Gulliman's large forces, Dorn would have a bigger advantage of striking against the Emperor. However the problem lies with how to bring Guilliman to Dorn's side due to his loyalty to the Emperor. So what Dorn did was simple, by using his influence of being at the Emperor's side, Dorn managed to cut off various trade routes with Ultramar in order to make Guilliman believe that the Emperor was trying to starve the mini-empire. Despite this however the Ultramar managed to keep going due to Guilliman's leadership so Dorn was force to use more drastic measures. With his legion's first company along with the powers of Chaos, Dorn began directing multiple Ork raiding parties and warp storms throughout the Eastern Fringe, forcing Guilliman's legion to spread itself to various places to maintain order. Guilliman tried to call for aid from the rest of the Imperium but due to Dorn's actions and constant warp storms, no aid came.

Once Dorn believe that the time was right he led his legion towards Ultramar to lend his aid to Guilliman. This made the Ultramarine Primarch owe a great debt to Dorn, and Dorn used that to his advantage by spewing lies mixed with the powers of Chaos into Guilliman's head; that it was the Emperor who was responsible for the Eastern Fringe's dilemma. The Emperor feared Guilliman's mini-empire and the Primarch's influence over the rest of the Imperial forces. At first Guilliman didn't believe it, but the more Dorn spoke, combined with the deadly whispers of the Chaos Gods, the more made sense to Guilliman. Soon Guilliman sided with Dorn in his rebellion to liberate humanity from the 'Corrupted Emperor'

Soon Dorn began to corrupt several of the other Primarchs to his side. With Jaghatai Khan he gave him a daemon sword of Slaanesh, with the daemon within slowly corrupting the Primarch to Chaos. Soon Vulkan and Jonson followed shortly afterwards. Under Dorn's command Guilliman would publicly declare himself independent of the Imperium, supported by Khan and Vulkan. Meanwhile Dorn would appear loyal to the Emperor in order to have some of his legion move into the Imperial Palace unopposed while he would continue to corrupt more of his brothers. As said he managed to persuade three more Primarchs to his side; Ferrus Manus of the Iron Hand, who though he did not follow Chaos seem to have other goals that would make him betray his father. Corvus Corax, Primarch of the Raven Guards joined after, the Primarch's desire to cure his legion of their rapid mutation outweighing his common sense and loyalty to his father. And finally Sanguinius, Primarch of the Blood Angels joined, in order to bring a rule for mutants into life. However there was a problem with the Dark Angels, legion of Jonson. Due to the Primarch's long absences from the legion's homeworld Caliban as well as dabbing into the dark arts, resulted into a split between his legion, one side siding with their Primarch and the other remaining loyal to the Emperor, led by Luther, second in command of the Dark Angels. In order to quell a chance of the Emperor knowing of their plot, Dorn had Jonson attack his homeworld Caliban in order to silence the loyalist.

When the time came, Guilliman and his allies declared themselves independent of the Imperium and began to conquer Imperial worlds. Dorn had kept their location hidden from Imperial forces fro awhile, so that he could gain forces from the rest of the Imperial Army and Titan legions. Finally they were identified at being present at his newest conquest, the fifth planet of the Istvaan system. This was set to be the place that the Imperium would crush the rebellious Primarch and his dreams of an independent domain. With Horus still recovering after Davin, The Emperor assumed authority back onto the Imperium's military. In order to repel the Ultramarines, White Scars and Salamanders, the Emperor summoned the might of nearly half his legions to the task: Death Guard, Imperial Fists, Emperor's Children, Raven Guard, Iron Hand, Blood Angels and the World Eaters. Dorn was put in charge of the attack on the Ultramarines and had thought up with a simple strategy. The Imperial Fists, Iron Hands, Blood Angels and Raven Guard would make planet fall first. Their stated intention was to draw an ever-tightening ring of steel around Guilliman and the other traitors, so that the Death Guard, World Eaters and Emperor's Children would be able to sweep in from orbit and land the crushing blow. The second wave found the drop-zones to be heavily fortified killing grounds, well garrisoned by the three traitor legions. The three legions took horrendous losses fighting their way to link up with their allies, only for their supposed brothers to open fire on them in an act of base treachery. For now was the time that Dorn and the other three traitors revealed their true intentions and alongside their fellow traitors, the White Scars, Blood Angels, Salamanders, Imperial Fists, Raven Guard, Iron Hand and Ultramarines decimated the survivors of the planet-fall. It was only the value effort of the World Eaters, led by their Primarch Angron, did some of the forces of the loyalist legions escape. The World Eaters acted as a rearguard for the Death Guards and Emperor's Children, causing the legion to take the most damage during the fight. In his final moments Angron gave Kharn, Captain of the World Eater's 8th Company and his prize pupil, one of his chainaxes, Gorechild, and then left him in command of the surviving World Eaters. Those were Angron's last orders as his legion watched their Primarch jump back into the mist of traitors, killing many, in order to buy the last batch of survivors' time to escape. He met his end at the combine hands of Vulkan and Khan, the World Eater Primarch's battle prowess forcing the two traitors to attack at one in order to kill him.

Word soon reached Dorn from Russ that the Space Wolves had given themselves to Khorne and thus sided with Dorn and was raiding worlds towards Terra. But the Dark Angels were still unaccounted for and Dorn could not reach them, except for sending word for them to head towards Terra. With four legions already crippled by this treachery, the only legions that could possible aid to the Emperor were the Sons of Horus, Iron Warriors, Alpha Legion, and Word Bearers. However the Night Lords, they had disappeared along with their Primarch after a brief scuttle between Konrad and Dorn and so their location was unknown.

However Dorn did have one advantage over the Emperor; Dorn had left a contingent of some of his most loyal and skilled marines back on Terra within the palace. The moment Dorn sent word back to them the marines began taking over the Imperial Palace, fighting against the other forces within such as the Custodians. The plan was to keep the Emperor trapped within his own palace while the traitors arrived to besieged Terra. Also thanks to Dorn's actions, the other loyal legions that were still intact were not yet aware of what had transpired on Isstvan V, Terra was completely vulnerable.

But there was one variable that Dorn had forgotten; the Night Lord's location, which was none other then Terra. The reason behind Konrad's dispute with Dorn is that one of Konrad's visions was of this event and thus he had tried to stop it by killing Dorn. But when his attempt failed, Konrad and his legion fled to avoid being captured by Imperial Forces and moved through the shadows carefully avoiding the traitor's eyes while heading towards Terra to war the Emperor. At the same time he sought out Alpharius, Primarch of the Alpha Legion, the only other Primarch who had showed suspicion towards Dorn's actions. After telling Alpharius of what he learned, along with survivors of Dark Angels loyalist that Konrad had found during his wanders, led by Luther who told the two Primarchs of what transpired on Caliban, the Alpha Legion Primarch realized of the horror that was befalling on the Imperium. While the Alpha Legion was sending word to the remaining loyalist legions, Konrad and a handful of his elite marines infiltrated the Imperial Palace and killed all of the Imperial Fists within the Palace just a few minutes after Dorn's men began their takeover. Thanks to Konrad the palace and Terra was still under Imperial control. Soon the Sons of Horus, Iron Warriors and Word Bearers arrived thanks to the call from Alpharius. Speaking of which, the Alpha Legion was doing multi attacks on the traitor forces spread across the Imperial space in order to assist other loyal forces to Terra to prepare for its defense. They had also managed to separate the Ultramarine fleet away from the rest of the traitor forces, their quick attacks hindering the larger legion's advance. This made Guilliman's legion separate from each other due to the quick attacks, reducing the Primarch's forces in half.

The Traitor Legions soon arrived to Terra and began a full-scale assault. The White Scars terrorized the civilians and took over the majority of the Space Ports allowing more traitor forces to land. The Imperial Fists, led by the Captain of the 1st Company, Sigismund along with the Salamanders, Blood Angels and the Raven Guard assaulted the Imperial Palace, fighting against the Sons of Horus, Word Bearers and Iron Warriors. At the Imperial Gate, Lorgar held back the tides of Chaos and even managed to banish the Greater Daemon of Khorne. The Iron Warriors took great pleasure in repelling their long time enemies the Imperial Fists, countering any type of attack the traitors tried to use. The Night Lords divided their forces and spread discord among the traitor Guardsmen, causing many to flee in terror and raising moral for the loyalist. Abaddon, Captain of the Sons of Horus 1st Company took command of all scattered forces in the city while his Primarch commanded from the Imperial Palace. While those forces fought on Terra, the Iron Hands attacked Mars, cutting the Adeptus Mechanicus from assisting Terra. But the arrival of the Alpha Legion, led by Alpharius and Omegon, managed to assist the tech-priest into pushing back Ferrus's forces. Their tactics of multi strikes allowed Imperial forces on Mars to link up and confuse the enemy. Not only that but thanks to the combine tactics of Abaddon and Alpharius, other Imperial Loyal Forces managed to land of Terra safely to fight against the traitors.

Back on Terra two great blows against the traitors happened. Corax, the Raven Guard Primarch, along with his legion's 1st Company had managed to infiltrate the palace in order to assassinate the Emperor. But he had not expected Konrad to appear, along with his personal Honor Guard. In a battle of stealth, terror and blades, the end results were Konrad and his men standing over the fallen body of most of Corax's men, with said Primarch heavily injured by the Night Haunter and dragged to safety by his surviving marines. Back at the front of the Imperial Gates, Sanguinius lead an air assault on the Imperial Palace, hoping to break the defenses with the sudden attacks. But when he and his marines made landfall, the Angel was met with the sight of an armed Horus and his veteran marines. The two former friends, brothers and comrades fought with such rage and power that the very ground underneath them shook and crack. But the end results were Horus breaking both of Sanguiniu's wings and then landing the finishing blow by plowing his power claw through the Blood Angel Primarch's chest, killing the traitor. Horus then threw the body of the fallen Angel towards the traitors, a message saying that 'Traitors shall know thy wrath!" These two victories greatly boosted morale amongst the defenders.

But soon the traitor forces were reinforced by the arrival of the Space Wolves and Dark Angel legions. Russ's legion was the first to make landfall and began slaughtering thousand of people, soldiers and citizens alike, all to sate his own lust of blood. Despite this Dorn wanted to completely ravage the planet, and thus he turned more daemonic. Soon portals all over the planet opened and daemons poured out and assaulted the Imperial forces. However Horus placed Pertuabo in charge of the palace's defenses while he was organizing the forces in the nearby cities. Horus knew that the only one who could match Dorn in a battle of sieges was the Primarch of the Iron Warriors. And as he thought Pertuabo managed to keep the forces of Chaos out of the Imperial Palace, taken little casualties as he used the now deranged minds of the Chaos forces to his advantage.

However the constant wave of daemons appearing all over the planet was becoming a problem for the defenders as the overwhelming numbers began to take their toll. That is when the Emperor used his trump card. By binding a portion of his conscious with the Astronomican, he managed to unleash a huge psychic blast. The blast wiped out all the daemons on the planet, reducing the traitor legion's forces to half and leaving them stunned and easy targets for the defenders. This raised morale to the loyalist and other Imperial forces and gave them the determination to push the invaders back. However the traitors still had the numbers and managed to keep their position despite the loss of daemons. Also Guilliman, after rounding up most of his scattered legion, had arrived, increasing Dorn's forces to fight back.

But just as all hoped seemed loss, word reached the Emperor that the World Eaters, Death Guards, Thousand Sons and Emperor's Children legions would be arriving in a few days, having finished bringing up their legions back to their original numbers. With their current forces holding back the invaders, with said force's ships all enclosed around Terra, the reinforcements would completely surround the traitors and wipe them out in an instant. But the Emperor decided that a decisive attack against the traitors was required in order to get an absolute victory. With the Night Lords legion, Konrad Curze launched an assault on Dorn's fortress ship; the _Phalanax _their intention was to disable their shields thus allowing the Emperor's strike force to board and kill Dorn.

The plan work, soon the ship's shield went down and the Emperor, along with Horus's legion, the Sons of Horus, veteran marines, the Emperor's Custodians and the Night Lords, teleported onto the ship to face Rogal Dorn himself. But the powers of Chaos had separated them aboard the ship, forcing them to push through traitors in order to reach Dorn's personal chamber.

When the Emperor and his Custodians arrived, the sight that greeted him was not a pretty sight. Standing before him was a completely corrupted Dorn, and lying before his feet was Konrad Curze, dead. Enraged at the death of so many of his sons, the Emperor charged Rogal Dorn and the two began a duel that would be legend. When Horus arrived hours later, he discovered Dorn and Konrad's lifeless forms and the Emperor in a near death state. Moving quickly Horus retrieved both Konrad's body and the Emperors as he and his marines fought their way out of the ship back to Terra.

By the time the other loyalist legions arrived to Terra the battle was already over. With the death of their Primarch, the Imperial Fists, now under the command of the legion's 1st Company Captain, Sigismund were in full retreat. Soon the now invigorated Imperial Forces who were chasing after the traitor legions and began pushing them back. Taking command of the Imperium, Horus put Pertuabo in charge of leading the other legions to push the traitors to the Eye of Terror, while Horus and Lorgar's legions reclaimed lost Imperial worlds. Magnus's legion was given the task of sealing the portals across the world. While they were doing that Horus integrated his father's body into the Astronomican. This allowed the Emperor to make warp-travel easier for his people.

During the battle on Caliban, the traitor Dark Angels killed many Dark Angel loyalists using their newfound powers from the God of Change, as well as their desire to recover the ancient relics they found buried within the planet. However thanks to Luther's thinking he managed to evacuate the survivors off world and back towards Terra, guided by the Emperor. But another portion of loyalist, led by Cypher, were cut off from Luther. By the time they managed to get off world, the Warp storm surrounding the planet was to wild and Cypher's group were launch to some part of the galaxy that only the Emperor knew. Horus gave the remaining Loyalist Dark Angels who came with Luther, along with any loyalist remnants of the other traitor legions the duty; through the Emperor's will, to form an organization to combat Chaos and any alien threats, both inside and out. And thus the Inquisition was born.

The most major battle after the Heresy was reclaiming the worlds on the Eastern Fringe, with Guilliman now trying to fortify his rule and forces. But the combined forces of the Imperial Army, led by Alpharius and Fulgrim, managed to overwhelm the already disorganized Ultramarines and traitor Imperial forces. However it was Fulgrim who gave the killing blow, by beheading Guilliman, in what he claimed to be revenge for the lives lost on Istvaan IV. Horus then offered the now free Ultramar to Fulgrim as thanks for killing another traitor; however the Phoenix bestowed the gift to Alpharius; for if it were not for the Alpha Legion in holding back the Ultramarines during the siege of Terra as well as guiding loyalist to the planet to aid in the defense, then they might not have reached this far. And so the Alpha Legion made Ultramar their new home and was renamed Hydratron.

Horus decided that a codex had to be created in order to make sure such horrors would never happen. And so the Codex Astartes were created, ordering the loyalist legions to split off into chapters. While the legions would retain the strict number of 10,000 marines, their descendents would only have 5,000 marines. At first many of the Primarchs rejected this offer, mostly Pertuabo, Lorgar and Mortarion. But Alpharius and Fulgrim supported Horus's decision while only Magnus remained neutral. Only the legions that had lost their Primarchs willingly split their legions into chapters and slowly the rest followed.

Back with Magnus, the Thousand Sons Primarch had made a startling discovery on Terra. In his efforts to revive his father, the Emperor communed with the Primarch that his soul was now in the warp, being reborn as a new god, the Star Child. He also confided with Magnus about the existence of his sons, the Sensei. This led too two outcomes: One was that Magnus now set out to find these sons of the Emperor, while Lorgar created the Ecclesiarchy to worship the Star Child as the Imperium's god.

During the 1st Black Crusade, launched by the new Warmaster of Chaos, Sigismund, Pertuabo of the Iron Warriors was critically injured in combat when fighting against a force of Traitor Terminators. Fortunately his First Captain, Forrix, along with Pertuabo's Honor Guards arrived in time to pull their Primarch out of combat. However the injuries Pertuabo sustained would force him to command his legion as well as other Imperial Forces from the back as he had been infected by a Nurgle Poison. While the poison was not killing him or corrupting him, thanks to the intervention of Magnus and Lorgar, it would be centuries until the Iron Warrior's Primarch could once again charge into battle.

_Status of the Legions and Primarchs concerning their Homeworlds and Colors._

Horus remained on Terra, in command of the High Lords of Terra and the Inquisition. The Chapter Masters of the Sons of Horus would remain on their homeworld Cthonia, and would recruit from that world and from Terra as well. Due to his shame of being unable to save the Emperor, Horus had his legion's color changed to black. The Primarch and his legion are hailed as heroes of the Imperium, for reuniting the shattered empire back together and maintaining order for the past few millennia. One of the greatest Sons of Horus marines is Abaddon, Captain of the First Company and later on the First Chapter Master. Their Battle Cry is, "For Horus, no pity shall be shown! For the Emperor, no mercy shall be given!"

After the horror of the Drop Site Massacre and the lost of their Primarch and so many of their captains, the World Eaters were very undermanned. But it was thanks to the survival of Kharn, Captain of the 8th War Company, that the legion endured. Under his leadership the World Eaters managed to gather more marines from their planet and return to the Imperium to drive the traitors towards the Eye of Terror. Today they remain on their homeworld Nuceria where they get their recruits. To show respect to their Primarch's final stand, they added red to their blue and white colors. To many Imperial Guards regiments, the World Eaters are a brave legion, willing to take on impossible odds at close range. They never back down from a fight and have a determination that would make their Primarch proud. In fact all of their successor chapters look up to Angron's teachings. The Death Guard and Emperor's Children legions, for sacrificing his life so Fulgrim and Motarion could escape, also respect Angron. Their battle cry is, "Glory for the Primarch and Emperor! Victory for the Imperium and Mankind!"

The Night Lords continue using their tactics of ruthless fighting in honor of their Primarch. They still only recruit from Nostramo, but make sure that the candidates aren't criminals that would shame the legion. Their armor remains the same except they've added gold and white lightning. The legion and their successors have gained much infamy amongst their enemies and people of the Imperium due to their ruthlessness. Also their numbers have decreased due to the malfunctions of the gene-seed and low number of good recruits on their homeworld. Despite their ruthless tactics Konrad is looked upon greatly by many of the people of the Imperium for defending them during the siege of Terra. Their Battle cries are usually words of terror and horror over the enemy's communication frequencies or a more common one is, "For the Night Haunter!"

The Word Bearers remained on their homeworld Colchis, though most of their fleet remained in orbit. Their planet also became the center of the Ecclesiarchy led by Lorgar, creating many faithful recruits for the legion. The Word Bearers changed their black armor to tan, red and gold with parts of their Holy Scriptures written on them. They are the most zealous of the loyalist legion, second only to the Sons of Horus. Their war cry is usually a line from their holy scriptures or sometimes, "For Lorgar and the Star Child!"

The Iron Warriors are now fleet base, though they still recruit from Olympia and nearby worlds. They now act as a Crusading Fleet and can mobilize their forces anytime. Though their armor is the same they have added gold and danger stripes onto their armor. They fight more determined and are constantly working on new weaponry for the Imperium. Pertuabo, still recovering from the Nurgle Poison, now resides on the Legion's new floating Fortress-Monastary, the_ Iron Blood, _which was originally Pertuabo's flagship during the Great Crusade. Their war cry is "Iron Within, Iron Without!"

The Death Guard continued to recruit from their homeworld on Barbarus, with Mortarion usually at his palace watching over the new recruits. They still retain their normal armor color. Their war cry is, "For Terra and Mortarion". They have been renowned for protecting civilians during battles while being on the bad side of noble families and government officials. They are also on good terms with the Imperial Guards.

Fulgrim still leads the Emperor's Children Legion and they still recruit from Chemos. Though they are still the smallest of the loyalist legions, the Emperor's Children have shown their skills in the battlefield, especially their former brothers the Iron Hand legion. Their armor color has change to purple with lilac and gold. Whenever sightings of the Iron Hand are mentioned, the Legion moves in to stop them. The veterans of the Emperor's Children are given golden helmets to represent their loyalty to the Emperor. Their war cry is "Children of the Emperor" or "Death to his foes!"

With their homeworld Prospero destroyed, the Thousand Sons have now become a fleet base legion, recruiting from nearby worlds. They still posses a large number of psykers, who are constantly taught about the warp. They along with their successors, especially the Blood Ravens, revere Prospero as a holy planet and hold a death feud against the Space Wolves. Any chance they get to face the traitor legion, they take it without any hesitation. Due to Magnus being away with his personal guard, a Chapter Master is always left in charge of the legion aboard the mobile fortress monastery, _Herumon_. They are the only legion that is look upon with prejudice by some worlds of the Imperium due to their psychic powers. But the majority of the Imperium still see them as heroes for discovering the Star Child's existence. Their armor color is now red, white and green. Only the honor guard and librarians and Chapter Master still retain red and gold armor. Their wary cry is "Knowledge In Unparallel!"

And finally there was the Alpha Legion. Though they have their own sector to recruit from, the legion still remains as a fleet base legion. While Omegon secretly commands the legion aboard the ships, Alpharius publicly commands them from Macragge. Their armor color has changed to blue-green silver, the color of arcane. During battles they have become famous for their multi-strikes against enemy forces and thus lowering casualty numbers. Their battle cries are "For the Emperor!" or "For Hydratron!" along with other Imperial war cries.

Soon information about the Traitor Legions came in. The Imperial Fists, now renamed the Black Legion as a sign of their breaking from the Imperium, is still led by Sigismund, the current Chaos Warmaster. He uses his power and presence to keep the legion together and commands them from the _Phalanx_ aided by his second-in-command, Alexis Polux, a former Imperial Fist captain. Sigismund sends out fleets of the legion's warbands commanded by powerful Chaos Lords of his choosing. He hopes to one day finish what his master, Rogal Dorn, started and destroy the very foundation of the Imperium. Like they originally had before the betrayal, the legion is the bitter enemies of the Iron Warriors and now the Sons of Horus, who they blame for halting their victory millennia ago. The legion's colors have changed to a dark black with golden trims and the symbol is now similar to their original but now has the mark of Chaos on it. Their battle cries are "Death to the False Emperor!" And "We are the Fist of Chaos!"

After the death of their Primarch and loss of Ultramar, the Ultramarines were loosely united by the command of their Chapter Master, Marius Gage as they fled towards the Eye of Terror. But soon infighting broke out between the legion, now divided into three by Marius Gage, former 7th Company Captain Lysimachus Cestus, and former 4th Company Captain Remus Ventanus. These three soon caused the legion to break off into more warbands, nearly destroying the legion. However, from current information gathered, a Chaos Lord of Marneus Calgar, who plans to unify the legion once more and launch an attack on Hydratron, commands the largest warband. The legion's colors have changed to darker blue and black trims. Their mortal enemies are the Alpha Legion and Emperor's Children. Their battle cry is, "Death to All who stand in Our Way!"

Vulkan has become a Damon Prince of Nurgle and resides over the greatest Plague planet. He still commands his legion; sending plague fleets out into the material and attacking civilize worlds. There they infect the planet with their toxic gases or burning everything down with their acid green flames. Much of the Imperial science has been put into an effort to counteract these poisons as well as ways to destroy the rot and mutations within the traitor's bodies. Their colors are now a darker tainted green, charred color, along with flame colors. Their archrivals are the World Eaters, for Vulkan killing Angron. Their battle cry is, "Defile all!"

With the death of Sanguinius the Blood Angels have become broken, and though there are various warbands, two marines have both declared themselves to be the true heirs to the Angel. One is Raldoron, former First Captain of the legion and the other is Azkallon, the Herald of Sanguinius's Honor Guard the Sanguinary Guards. The two, in their desire to succeed their Primarch in command of the legion, have begun an inner civil war amongst each other, as well as fighting other legions. The legion has changed their colors to a darker shade of red, with white and gold trims. Their battle cry is, "For the Blood Angel!" or "We cover the sky in blood!"

Russ has become a Daemon Prince of Khorne and resides on a daemon world within the Eye of Terror that is similar to Fenris. But after the battle of Skratthaxi, caused by Bijorn the Betrayer, his legion has scattered, forming into various warbands and setting out into the galaxy to pillage worlds and leave a path of death and carnage for their new god. There have been many reports that now warbands of this legion, called Wolf Packs, of veteran marines riding on top of demonic wolves, giving them an even more intimidating appearance when charging into battle. Their armor has changed to a darker grey metal along with dark gold trims and wolf like designs, wolf fur and other trophies. Their battle cry is, "The Hunt Begins!" or "Blood for the Blood God!"

After becoming a Daemon Prince, Khan abandoned his legion in exchange of living on a world of absolute Pleasure within the Eye of Terror, a place that all White Scars desire to go to. The legion now uses their desire for fast attacks to further fuel their own lust for treasures and the killing of others. Like many of the other traitor legions, the White Scars have split into various warbands since they no longer have the leadership of their Primarch, and move about the galaxy attacking worlds, ships and anything with people for slaves or items for the taking. While still retaining their armor's white color, it has been mixed with purple, along with gold and black trims. Many of the veterans of the legion now wear the flesh of their victims. The battle cry of the legion is, "Take All! Leave None!"

The less inform legion is the Iron Hands. While it is unsure if they have pledge their allegiance to Chaos, it is clear that they are not above from fighting with Imperial Forces. They are rarely seen; the only times they are spotted is when they are raiding a Forge World or have been spotted on worlds where once advance civilizations resided. Also unlike the other legions, the Iron Hands do not reside in the Eye of Terror, seeming to prefer to avoid it unless absolute necessary. And it appears that many of them have bionic body parts on them, which either means that they lost said parts in battle or have merely replaced the mutations that Chaos's influence gives them. Either way they continue to replace flesh with metal. Speaking of which, it is still unconfirmed with Ferrus Manus even still leads the legion; but there have been reports from time to time of a massive metal being leading large raids, possessing unspeakable powers that only a Primarch or the Emperor could face. Their colors are now a darker black and much of their body is bionic. They also don't possess, or any known, battle cries.

The Raven Guards have begun raids of terror amongst the worlds of the Imperium and of other races. Corax, now a Daemon Prince, has fled into the Eye of Terror to heal his wounds from Konrad while what remains of his legion now goes off into the material to raise hell for all life. The Raven Guards are also the only legion that seems to welcome the mutations that Chaos's influence gives to its servants. However they still utilize their stealth attacks, all the while abducting people to be used in their experiments and to strengthen their forces. The armor has changed to a dark grey black, with red and white trims. Their battle cry is, "Mortem Tenebras" (Death from the Shadows!)

The last legion, the Dark Angels, is the most mysterious, second only to the Iron Hands. After becoming a Daemon Prince of Tzeentch, Jonson has now settled onto the Planet of Sorcerers within the Eye of Terror. However soon after they came into the Eye of Terror the legion began to suffer mutations, not rapid mutation but still fast enough to bring concern to the legion. However using the dark spells found on Caliban, Jonson and his sorcerers managed to cast a powerful spell over their legion. While the mutations have stopped changing rapidly, the marine's flesh are now fused with their armor, but still leaving them conscious. Their agendas are unknown, however there have been a few guesses that they are either trying to hunt down their loyalist brothers that were saved by the Emperor through the Warp or to find ancient artifacts for their own purposes. Whatever the case may be they are careful to remain out of sight. Their armor has changed from black to a dark green with purple, gold and blue markings over the armor and black trims. Their battle cry is, "None Shall Escape!"

The Imperium is still hostile towards alien races, but it is not zealous hate. The Imperium is now a place of religion, science, knowledge and power as its warriors defend it from the threats of the galaxy, and sometimes within as well. For the Space Marines, new and stronger gene-seed materials have been made in order to increase longevity. However the more perfect types are used for Marines that are regarded highly for their actions, mostly Chapter Masters or important figures during the Heresy


	2. The Chapters

Altered Heresy Founding

Sons of Horus: Luna Wolves, Knights of Lupercal, Crimson Hawks, Warp Knights, Emperor's Flame, Incinerators, Ocean Lords, Knights of the Trinity, Black Hornets, Black Suns, Desert Griffons, Grey Paladins, Bronze Claws, Storm Crusaders

Emperor's Children: Eternal Legion, Emperor's Iron, Star Lords, Storm Eagles, Phoenix Lords

Iron Warriors: Golden Legion, Titanium Fists, Iron Scorpions, Steel Fists, Olympians, Iron Dragons, Black Arms, Sons of Iron, Onyx Knights, Ditch Fighters, Demolishers

Thousand Sons: Blood Ravens, Infinite Angels, Crimson Marauders, Luna Dragons, Vermillion Knights, Bronze Vipers, Azure Tridents

World Eaters: Grey Sentinels, Cyclone Warriors, Sons of Lucifer, Sons of Thor, Crimson Host, Howling Blades, War Machines,

Word Bearers: The Revenants, Angel Prophets, Iron Angels, Knights of the Hammer, Revenant Tigers, Golden Flames, Invokers

Death Guard: Dusk Raiders, Fire Guards, Archangels, Scythes of Faith, Stone Giants, Exodus Chapter, Verdant Stars

Night Lords: Heralds of Coming Doom, Shadow Lords, Null Lords, Genesis Patriarchs, Black Panthers, Red Crusaders, Astral Phantoms, Prophetic Forgiven

Alpha Legion: Crimson Dragoons, Gamma Legion, Steel Tigers, Astral Swords, Steel Serpents, Green Knights, Azure Tridents


	3. Dark Angels

**The first legion: The Dark Angels**

All of the Astartes Legions have been shaped and defined by their homeworlds, but the influence that Caliban exerts upon the Dark Angels, even ten thousand years after its destruction, is surely the most profound. At the time the Primarchs were scattered across the galaxy, Caliban was swathed in dense forests, which were haunted by fierce and unnatural chimeras known as the great beasts. The embattled human colonists had long-since lost contact with the rest of mankind due to the warp-storms of Old Night, and much of their technological heritage had been forgotten. Even Terra itself had faded from memory to become little more than a myth.

However, in the face of such adversity the nobility of the human spirit still prevailed. Knightly orders, sworn to protect the people of Caliban, made it their calling to hunt down and destroy the great beasts. It was one of these expeditions that came across the infant primarch, wandering deep in the heart of the forests. Having been starved of human contact, the boy was feral, and yet his presence and spirit was unmistakable. The leader of the knights, a great man called Luther, adopted the child as though he were his own son, and named him Lion El'Jonson, or 'The Lion, the son of the Forest' in their dialect. Many and varied were the tests and trials to be accepted into the Order, as the knights called themselves, but Luther was an excellent tutor, and the Lion a natural warrior and strategist. From Walking the Spiral, where they honed their sword-craft into a defense against any foe, to the _Verbatim_ - their book of tactics and teachings - Jonson excelled. When he returned from the quest to hunt down and kill one of the great beasts, he did so bearing the body of the most feared and terrible creature on the planet; that of a Calibanite lion. Such a feat was more than enough to see him admitted to the Order as a full Knight.

Luther had always been seen as a future leader of the Order, but the arrival of the Lion had changed all that. Jonson had been gene-crafted to command the Emperor's legions, and these innate skills saw him rapidly eclipse his mentor. But for all of the Lion's peerless talents, an echo of the feral forest child still remained. There was a coldness and detachment from human emotion about him, his bonhomie always a fraction forced and stilted. To Luther's credit, he was never taunted by petty jealousy, as within the Lion El'Jonson he saw the chance to do something more than simply continue the endless war against the great beasts. There was an opportunity to unite all of the knightly orders and eliminate the abominations from the face of the world once and for all. Certain that Jonson was the savior of Caliban and its people, Luther put aside personal ambition, and made it his sole purpose to ensure their shared vision came to fruition.

Though it took many years of blood and toil, the great beasts were systematically purged from the forests, with the forbidding Northwilds their last refuge. The final sweep brought them into contact with a group calling themselves the Knights of Lupus, which had always been vehemently opposed to their crusade. Upon approaching their fortress, it became clear why this had been so. In their isolation, they had taken to the study of sorcery, and even held a menagerie of the great beasts. That a knight could ever fall to such corruption filled Luther with loathing, and the resulting war was crushing and swift. With their protectors destroyed, the crusade to purify Caliban continued apace, and inside a short span the Lion himself put the very last great beast to the sword. However the Lion found himself interested in the arts that the Lupus Order had filled themselves with, never knowing that would be his downfall. Whenever his presence was not required he would bury himself within the library of the forbidden arts, becoming more and more engrossed in them. However Luther kept on making sure that the Lion's focus was on the welfare of the people of Caliban. The tutor also made it a point to keep an eye on Jonson too.

Shortly after, as though it had been some form of knightly test of his worth, the Emperor arrived upon Caliban to greet His lost son. With him came the Astartes of the First Legion, super-beings, which had been patterned upon Jonson's own genetic code. The Lion was named lord and primarch of the new Dark Angels, and Caliban became the legion's new homeworld. Jonson decreed that the best of the Order be inducted into the legion, and to ensure that they always had a plentiful supply of arms and weapons, Caliban was to take its place in the Imperium as a 'properly industrialized world'.

As only the youngest members of the Order could be fully transformed with the gifts of gene-seed, Luther was denied the chance to become a full Astartes. Instead he was given extensive augmentation using the new Imperial science, and made up for any deficiency with characteristic skill and resolve. By the time the Dark Angels were ready to take their allotted place in the Emperor's Great Crusade, Luther had risen through merit to once more become Jonson's second in command.

To the Calibanite Dark Angels, the Great Crusade was simply the logical extension of their quest to destroy the great beasts. And the Emperor was the beacon of hope for the Galaxy. Having already made their world safe for humanity, they relished the prospect of doing the same for the whole of the galaxy. However, before they could bring more than a handful of planets into Compliance, Luther and a cadre of his closest brothers were ordered to leave the Expeditionary fleets and return to Caliban. The Lion said that he needed to ensure a plentiful supply of new initiates for his armies, and who better for the task than the man who had raised and trained him. Luther applied himself to this vital task with diligence, ensuring that chapter after chapter of impeccably trained Astartes was sent to join the Lion.

Years turned into decades, and while the Astartes of the training garrison continued to perform their duties admirably, there was no sign of them ever being allowed to rejoin the Great Crusade, or even that the Lion would return to his own homeworld. Though it was not discussed openly, there was a growing unease that their primarch had turned his back on Caliban. Worse still was the way their beloved planet had been changed since the arrival of the Imperium. Under the command of Jonson its verdant forests had been all-but destroyed to make way for mines and manufactories, and its people had been forced out of their 'unproductive' settlements. Instead they were housed in grey, soulless hive-cities called arcologies. Despite the introduction of Imperial medical technologies, health and life expectancy had if anything begun to worsen, and simmering discontent had broken out into strikes, civil disobedience and even riots.

Luther recognized that Caliban's true riches lay not in its minerals or war production, but in the courage and vitality of its people, yet time and again his protests over the devastation of their planet in dispatches to the Lion were ignored. When the astropathic response finally came, it chilled Luther to the bone. Instead of throwing his support behind Luther's calls, he seemed concerned primarily with ensuring that his expedition's lines of supply did not become over-extended. Their success had taken the legion so far from the homeworld that Jonson had long considered recruiting closer to the front lines. If the industrialization of Caliban had reduced their suitability as Aspirants, then now would seem the prudent time for the training garrison to select a more productive world. The revelation that his Primarch was willing to turn his back on their home so completely shocked Luther to the core. He had always considered Lion El'Jonson to be the deliverer of his planet and savior of its people, but now it was clear that he was willing to see Caliban and its people pay the price for his naked ambition. However Luther thought that the Emperor would answer the planet's heed. And so he sent several messages to the Emperor, explaining the troubling times that the people of Caliban were facing due to these sudden changes by the Imperium.

A week or so later Horus, sent by his father as an envoy came to Caliban to hear these worries from Luther's mouth himself. Upon seeing the damage as well as the poor welfare of the people, Horus agreed that something must be done and that he would bring this news to the Emperor himself. While on Caliban Horus had revealed to Luther of Lion's actions during the Great Crusade; while the Dark Angels indeed help claim worlds for the sake of Mankind, they had made many stops at worlds that contained old texts of sorcery or other dark arts. However no one paid much mind to it since the Dark Angels would always remain isolated from the other Imperial forces. Though to Luther, this reminded him of the many times he would catch Lion looking through the books of the Knights of Lupus.

Tragedy was piled upon tragedy when an investigation into the riots at the Northwilds region revealed massed sacrifices and the practice of base sorcery. Such practices had echoes of atrocities they had witnessed on Warp-corrupted planets during their short time in the Great Crusade, although they never thought such things could occur on Caliban. While they were able to stop the rite from being completed, and the entity prevented from manifesting, it laid bare the canker at Caliban's heart. The temple had been built upon the remains of the Knights of Lupus' fortress – the group, which had sheltered the great beasts - but the corruption, which permeated the area still endured. In fact as Luther had discovered that the Lion had been here recently, somehow able to pass the Imperial forces on the planet and looked into the sorcery that the Knights of Lupus had once dug themselves into and it became clear that Jonson was teaching these ways of Chaos as Luther later found out, to his marines that he brought with him on his Crusade. Despite his dislike of what the Imperium had done to his world, Luther knew that this threat was far greater then the safety of his planet. In fact left uncheck it could consume the whole galaxy. And thus he gathered his most trusted brothers to discuss about these actions of their Primarch and report it to the Emperor. However word soon arrived that Jonson and the Dark Angel's fleet had appeared.

When the Lion finally returned it wasn't a moment of celebration and rejoice but a time of despair and horror. For the Dark Angels Primarch had been seduce by Dorn and the forces of Chaos and now planned to eliminate any thorns in his legion. Jonson knew of Luther's investigations of his actions as well as discovering the Primarch's horde of books of Chaos and many of the marines left on Caliban would oppose such interests in the dark arts. And thus the Dark Angels loyal to the Lion began a bombardment of the planet, killing civilians and their brothers that refused to side with him. Luther led the Dark Angels loyal to him and Mankind but it was a lost battle. The Lion's librarians had tapped deeply into the powers of Tzneetch, calling forth warp storms to strike the planet with fury. It was clear that Jonson planned to destroy the planet with everyone against him on it. As many of the people and loyal marines he could save, Luther used the few remaining ships to flee off world and towards Terra to warn the Emperor, while Caliban died behind them. However as the fleet of rag tagged ships entered the Warp, half of the loyalist Dark Angels, under the command of Cypher, was separated from the rest of the Luther's forces and the civilians, to areas unknown.

What happened to Luther's group for the rest of the Dorn Heresy was unsure but it was clear that the Dark Angels under the Lion's command were headed towards Terra. However before they could begin they ran into the Space Wolves, their sworn rivals. But instead of battling one another the two greeted each other as allies against the Imperium and the Emperor. But due to the efforts of the Thousand Sons legion, the Dark Angels were delayed as they tried to reach Terra.

When they did the battle was almost over. The legion had just begun putting their support to break through the Imperial gate when word came that the Emperor had killed Dorn, thus ended the heresy. Without any other reason to fight the Dark Angels fled from the world and headed towards the Eye of Terror. There they made the Planet of Sorcerers their new home, with the Lion elevated to a Daemon Prince of Tzneetch. However a problem had arose; the legion was suffering several rapid mutations, except for their sorcerers and the Lion himself. In order to save the legion, the sorcerers used a powerful spell to bind the flesh of the other marines to their armor, thus stopping the mutation.

Eventually Luther's group arrived to Terra but was seized by the ships of the Thousand Sons, who tested their minds and souls for any corruptions. When they found none Magnus brought Luther to Horus for a decision to be made about the loyal Dark Angels, along with the loyalist remnants of the other traitor legions. Horus then decided to put Luther in charge of an organization loyal to the Emperor, to him and to the Imperium's new god, the Star Child. While the other marines were being remade into a new chapter called the Grey Knights, Luther and a selected group became the Grey Knights and the Inquisition. The Grey Knights would be marines implanted with the gene-seed of the Emperor himself to combat Chaos, while the Inquisition, under Horus's command, would ensure the safety of the Imperium, both within and outside the galactic empire.

Over the centuries small warbands of the Dark Angels have been spotted moving throughout the galaxy, avoiding any conflicts unless necessary. Many of the warbands appear to be searching for rare chaos or other alien artifacts for them to use against the Imperium. Some warbands have begun searching inhabitant worlds for something or someone, most likely the members of Cypher's group that were separated from the rest of the loyal Dark Angels.

Since their defection from the Imperium, many Dark Angels have begun relying on sorcery in combat then when they used assaults during the Great Crusade. These sorceries are very skilled and have proven a threat to the Imperium. And not just that, all members of the traitor legion still retained their skills of swordsmanship, including sorceries so that they can be prepared for melee combat.

**Well there it is, the first tale of the Legions of the Altered Heresy! Next up will be the Emperor's Children. Review!**

**Wacko12**


	4. Emperor's Children

**The Sons of Fulgrim and the legion of perfection! The Emperor's Children! Enjoy and review!**

So concerned were the Ruinous Powers by The Emperor's plan to create the Primarchs that they stole the infants away and scattered them throughout the galaxy. Not even this, though, could deflect Fulgrim from his fate. The planet of Chemos, like many before The Emperor's reunification, had been settled during mankind's first expansion into the cosmos, but having lost the gift of spaceflight, had become isolated over the ages. By the time Fulgrim fell to earth, the inhabitants of Chemos had slipped perilously close to extinction, clinging to survival by scavenging from deserted settlements and endlessly recycling their increasingly sparse stocks of food and water.

It was five decades later that The Emperor finally set foot on Chemos, and it is a testament to Fulgrim's exceptional abilities that in that time he had risen from a foundling to become the ruler of the entire planet. What is more, he had transformed it from a faltering society in terminal decline to a powerful, resurgent world reclaiming the lost settlements and rediscovering long-forgotten knowledge. No longer were they living day to day: Fulgrim had given the population of Chemos hope for the future.

On meeting his father and hearing The Emperor's story, the parallels between their lives struck Fulgrim. Both had risen to power purely through merit, and The Emperor's Great Crusade to reunite the lost human worlds into a galaxy-spanning Imperium echoed his own achievements, and reassured Fulgrim of the truth of his father's words. Back on Holy Terra, Fulgrim was introduced to his legion. Due to a catastrophe with their gene-seed the legion was only 200 strong, but the return of their Primarch would change this. In front of the massed Terran dignitaries and even The Emperor Himself, Fulgrim addressed his warriors, saying: _"We are His children. Let all who look upon us know this. Only by imperfection can we fail him. We are the Emperor's Children, and we will not fail him."_

The onlookers were shocked by the presumption of appropriating The Emperor's name for the legion, but the Master of Mankind simply laughed, and further indulged His son. The newly named Emperor's Children were allowed the signal honor of being the only legion to bear The Emperor's Aquila on their armored breastplates, a distinction that endures to this day. Thus named and anointed, the arduous process of building the legion to fighting strength began. In his eagerness to prove himself, Fulgrim volunteered his legion for duty at the earliest opportunity. Unfortunately, they were so few in number that they had to accompany another force. Fulgrim chose that of The Emperor and His Praetorians, the Imperial Fists.

During his time with the Emperor's Praetorians, Dorn, Primarch of the Imperial Fists, would degrade Fulgrim for his low numbers and during battles Dorn would have the Emperor's Children Legion stay in the rear while his legion would fight at the frontlines with the Emperor. This angered Fulgrim along with his sons, as he felt that his fellow Primarch did not see him as someone worthy to fight by the Emperor's side. However during one battle against deeply entrenched Orks, where Dorn's large numbers had failed, Fulgrim's small legion was able to take advantage of the mountain region that served as the battlefield, firing upon important Ork locations in order for Imperial forces to land the decisive blow against the warband. It was around this time that Fulgrim had met another of his Primarch Brothers, Ferrus Manus of the Iron Hand legion. Unlike with Dorn, Fulgrim and Manus became close friends and comrades. In fact the bond was so deep that each forged a weapon for the other, which is how Fulgrim acquired the Fireblade.

However when they finally reached full strength tragedy struck them during the first few campaigns was to come as the demoralized legion suffered a succession of grueling, drawn-out campaigns of compliance, the last of which left Fulgrim critically wounded as well. Lord Commander Eidolon immediately suspended the expedition, and the fleet returned to Chemos, fully expecting to lay their Primarch to rest on his home soil. Rather than succumb though, Fulgrim awoke reinvigorated, and demanded to address the legion. He spoke with eloquence and passion that they had collectively been blinded by doubt and fear, but on the brink of death he had been gifted an epiphany. Their path was to seek out and achieve perfection in the arts of war, and once they achieved it, they must hold to it fast.

Just as Fulgrim had done when he first came to Chemos, this second arrival brought hope to the population. Thus armed, the Emperor's Children, with Fulgrim at their head, returned to the Great Crusade with renewed purpose, knowing that they would not fail again. After innumerable stunningly successful campaigns that brought countless worlds back into the burgeoning Imperium of Man, Fulgrim redirected the fleet from their assigned course, and turned them instead towards a xenos world inhabited by a hostile and powerful race known as the Laer.

Such was the threat posed by the Laer that Imperial planners had projected any force attacking them would be wading through rivers of blood for decades. As the Laer were seemingly content in their isolation, they had been left until now. Fulgrim, however, saw them as his legion's greatest test. He would exterminate them, and furthermore achieve this task within a standard solar month. The Emperor's Children found that rather than a single race, the Laer had adapted and specialize their bodies to such a degree that they were barely recognizable as the same species. The only traits they held in common were a mastery of their own sphere of combat and the desperate tenacity of those facing total extinction.

The war wrought a terrible toll on both sides as weapons of incredible power were unleashed. The skills of the Legion's Apothecaries, long the guardians of genetic purity, shone as they performed miracles in keeping their brothers alive and fighting. From weightless conditions aboard orbital defence platforms to dog-fights among freezing clouds and lethal close-range meat-grinders aboard deep submersible habitats, the Emperor's Children scoured the Laer from existence. The very last Laer was cut down in one of their blasphemous temples, three days before the allotted month was out. Arriving after the battle had ended, Fulgrim declined to tour the site despite being regaled with tales of its haunting beauty, saying he had no wish to so dignify the xenos or their superstitions. He instead had the fane pounded to dust by orbital bombardment, along with every other remnant of Laeran culture.

Back in orbit around the dead world, Fulgrim addressed his entire legion. He said the campaign had proved that they had indeed achieved The Emperor's perfection. Driven to constantly change and adapt, the Laer had twisted their minds and bodies beyond all recognition, and yet the Emperor's Children had defeated them through their unsurpassed skill and devotion to purity. Similarly, the legion must be wary of diluting their Emperor-given state of perfection in the guise of 'progress', as to corrupt the ideal in this way would be an unforgivable act of sacrilege.

On that day, the Emperor's Children became a bastion of constancy in an ever-shifting galaxy.

"_And what of Fulgrim?" rumbled the first voice._

"_He and his Legion are ripe with pride, arrogance and jealousy," said the second voice. "Even now they are walking straight into the embrace of my children, the Laer. By the time they reach Istvaan, they will be willing supplicants to -"_

"_No! I forbid it!" roared the Primarch through the pain._

"_Forbid?" whispered the second, as silky and dangerous as an unsheathed blade._ The four paused. Could their control have slipped?

"_They don't deserve to be elevated like that," said the Primarch more levelly._

"_They don't deserve such a reward." The poisonous animosity between the two was a livid wound upon his psyche. It was clear to the four that the outburst was motivated by loathing rather than mercy._

"_Very well, my lord," said the third in the phlegmy rattle that passed for a voice. "In any case, I know my brother has his eye on another morsel, the White Scars."_

"_So be it – we grant you this boon," said the fourth voice, "but you must make sure that you have sufficient forces to crush them utterly."_

"_It will be my pleasure," said Rogal Dorn as he deactivated the Pain-glove, climbed out, and strode rigidly from the empty room._

No sooner had the Emperor's Children reached their apotheosis than they received an urgent astropathic communiqué concerning the Ultramarines. Guilliman's legion had brought much of the far galactic east into Imperial compliance, but now by right of conquest had claimed the area as his own. Rather than showing dismay and disbelief that one of his brother primarchs could turn his back upon The Emperor, Fulgrim took the news with quiet satisfaction. It reinforced his feeling of superiority, and gave him the chance to put his legion to the test against the closest thing that remained to a challenge: other Astartes.

The Emperor's Children set course for the Istvaan system. It was the site of Guilliman's latest addition to his 'Ultramar Segmentum', and both the rebellious Primarch and much of his massed legion were present on the fifth planet along with Fulgrim's other treacherous brothers, the Salamanders and White Scars. Seven legions were called to Istvaan, with the Imperial Fists, Iron Hand, Blood Angels and Raven Guard making planet-fall first to encircle, devastate and demoralize the defenders. The Emperor's Children, World Eaters and Death Guard were given the task of falling upon what remained to administer the coup de grace. The only part that displeased Fulgrim was that Rogal Dorn was put in command of the operation, but he did not argue against his father's decision.

On Dorn's command the three legions descended from orbit, only to find themselves caught in an ambush. Far from demoralized, they found the Ultramarines and their allies well dug-in, heavily armed and highly organized. Landing craft were torn apart by concentrated anti-aircraft fire and drop pods incinerated before their hatches were even blown. Under the peerless leadership of the Emperor's Children, the mauled remnants of the three legions broke out to link up with their supporting legions, only to uncover the true depths of the betrayal, as their erstwhile allies also opened fire upon them.

The com-channels were awash with pleas for their brothers to cease fire, and it was Fulgrim who first guessed the terrible truth. This was no accident: The Iron Hand, Raven Guard, Imperial Fists and Blood Angels had betrayed them. The Emperor's Children vented their frustration on the turncoats before them, and Fulgrim led what remained of his personal retinue against the Primarch of the Iron Hands. Fulgrim had considered Ferrus Manus to be a rare friend rather than a rival, and so it was all the deeper the betrayal. Though he fought valiantly against his traitor brother, Fulgrim was pushed back by the battle skilled Ferrus Manus. It was the timely arrival of the warrior Angron, Primarch of the World Eaters that saved Fulgrim from death.

Through daring, skill and determination a tiny fraction of the three legions escaped back to orbit to spread word of Dorn's Great Betrayal to the wider Imperium. Despite their brutish demeanor, the World Eaters had impressed Fulgrim on the field of battle, and genuine bonds of friendship were forged that persist to this day. Mortarion and his Death Guard left, as was their way, silently and swiftly for their homeworld. Though it pained Fulgrim to do so, it was agreed that their numbers were so few that the only option was to return to their home-worlds and rebuild their legions for the inevitable fight-back. The Emperor's Children had risen from the ashes once they would do so again.

Despite their betrayal and near-extinction at Istvaan IV, Fulgrim's assertion that his Legion had achieved the heights of perfection remained unshakeable. If anything, these events reinforced his view. They could not have been corrupted or defeated in a fair fight, so instead Dorn had tried – and failed - to obliterate them beneath overwhelming numbers. Just as his legion, along with the Death Guard, World Eaters, and Thousand Sons arrived to Terra, Guilliman's Heresy was brought to a bloody end. Chief among the casualties was The Emperor himself, who was left as little more than a ghost in the Astronomican machine.

Although Fulgrim never spoke openly of it, he clearly grieved for his father, and perhaps even regretted his choice to rebuild the legion rather than trying to fight their way back to Terra. Dorn, the Arch-Betrayer, was dead, and yet other Traitor Legionnaires still drew breath. The urge to track them down and mete out bloody retribution was powerful, yet Fulgrim never once compromised his principles to boost their numbers. Only the finest recruits were inducted into the Emperor's Children, which meant that while their high standards were maintained, the legion remained pitifully small.

When Horus took command of the Imperium, Fulgrim took his side, supporting this. He also saw the reason and the advantage of dividing the legions into chapters and thus along with Alpharius supported the creating for the Codex Astartes. Upon doing so Fulgrim made sure that all his successor chapters retain the art of perfection.

For this reason they deigned to fight alongside other Loyalist Legions, first with the World Eaters, where they saved the planet of Skalathrax from the Salamanders, and eventually took their place in Horus's massed Crusades. The Emperor's Children greatest moment was when they and the Alpha Legion attacked Ultrmar, planning to retake the Eastern Fringe back into the Imperium. Because the Ultramarine legion was still disorganized from their skirmish with the Alpha Legion weeks before the traitor legion fell apart quickly. It was Fulgrim who delivered the killing blow by beheading Guilliman himself. However he refused the offer of claiming the now liberated Ultramar for himself and instead gave it to Alpharius, as a sign of trust and thanks for the Alpha Legion Primarch's aid in defending Terra from the Traitors.

During the rest of the crusade against the traitors and reclaiming loss Imperial worlds, Fulgrim watched and was horrified at the short cuts the other legions had taken to replace their losses, in particular the new, inferior marks of war-gear being rushed into production. Though it significantly slowed the rate at which the Emperor's Children could reconstitute their ranks, Fulgrim was confident he had made the right choice. They would not compromise their principles and their purity.

Space Marines of the Emperor's Children are expected to be proficient, nay, to excel in each and every battlefield role. This means that a battle brother would be expected to crew a vehicle as capably as they would fire a heavy weapon or fight in close combat. Although this is sought through endless training, as it is among the other loyal legions, the Emperor's Children add a different aspect to their regimes – the incorporation of artistic pursuits.

The most obvious benefit of this is their approach to close combat. Where the World Eaters are coldly clinical and methodical, with each member of the force meshing together seamlessly, the Emperor's Children have a fluid grace borne of the study of dance and poetry. They flow across the battlefield, darting aside from blows and bullets before sweeping past their foes to strike three more before the first corpse has hit the ground. Officers of the Emperor's Children are renowned for their powerful rhetorical style, honed through intense study of the form and function of literature, poetry and the oratorical arts.

Their steadfast rejection of technological developments has meant that many vehicles commonly used by the other legions are absent from the armouries of the Emperor's Children. For them the trusted, ancient marks of Predator, Rhino and Land Raider are more than sufficient. Modifications such as the Tilvius APC or the brutish Vindicator are looked upon as at best a corruption of the purity of the venerable Rhino chassis. Even smaller variants in weapon system such as the Predator Dominator and the Land Raider Incinerator are shunned.

Their laborious production of older weapons and wargear mean that the Emperor's Children are the only legion able to field appreciable numbers of jet-bikes, which they maintain, with some justification, are more than a match for the slow and ungainly Land Speeder. Another example of the superiority of the legion's venerable war-gear is the Raptor jump pack. The complexity of manufacture and maintenance of these devices became prohibitive even for the Legionnes Astartes. When the STC for the simpler, but far less effective DH2 pattern jump pack was discovered, only the Emperor's Children opted to retain the older form in service. Such rigid adherence to Fulgrim's pre-Heresy vision of perfection, along with the luxury of limitless access to the manufacturing base of an entire planet is a defining feature of the combat doctrine espoused by the Emperor's Children.

With all their hearts, the Emperor's Children believe in their own purity and innate superiority. They cling tight to Fulgrim's assertion that they achieved perfection just before the Heresy, and will do nothing to dilute this, be it with the new, inferior marks of weapons and equipment, or accepting anything less than the most pristine specimens of gene-seed. This obsessive attention to detail means that while the Emperor's Children will never be a large Legion, each member is a paragon of what it means to be an Astartes. They believe that the only being to surpass them is The Emperor, and while they do not view him as a god, their respect and admiration for him is unbreakable.

Fighting alongside allies, such as the Imperial Army or even Astartes from other legions is often a source of friction. Their superiority can sometimes be mistaken for arrogance or high-handedness. Despite this, the Emperor's Children enjoy demonstrating their skills to others, but ultimately are most comfortable fighting alone, where they only have to rely upon their own trusted battle-brothers.

**And there you have it! I hope you all enjoyed this and make sure to comment! Next legion up will be the Iron Warriors. Also just to let you know I'm going through each legion by their numbers.**

**Wacko12**


	5. Iron Warriors

**Here we are! The Lords of Iron! The Iron Warriors! Review and Enjoy!**

When the Primarchs were scattered to the ends of the galaxy from the Emperor's gene-laboratory on Terra by the Chaos Powers, Perturabo landed on a planet named Olympia. He was discovered climbing the mountains below the Olympian city-state of Lochos. The city guards, having realized this was no ordinary child, brought him before Dammekos, the Tyrant of Lochos. Dammekos was intrigued by the child and brought him into his household and treated him as part of his family. Supposedly, Perturabo never truly trusted the Olympians and refused to return any affection given by Dammekos. Dammekos spent plenty of time with his new son, but never received any affection in return. Many Olympians saw Perturabo as a particularly cold and brooding child, though the fact that he was a genetically engineered superhuman who had been mysteriously thrown onto a far-off world with no idea of his origins or purpose was not conducive to the development of a trusting nature.

When the Emperor arrived on Olympia as part of the Great Crusade, Perturabo immediately submitted himself to the Emperor's mercy and ousted the Tyrant of Lochus as the greatest ruler on the world. Perturabo was also given command of the Iron Warriors Space Marine Legion, which had been created from his own genome. The legion's already expertise in machinery proved good with Pertuabo's tactics of siege warfare. However the Emperor was concerned with Pertuabo's cold personality might cause problems with his legion and in the future, as he sensed much hate from the Primarch. So in Pertuabo's private quarters, the Primarch and the Emperor talked about Pertuabo's new tactics for the legion and how it should be done. When it was over, Pertuabo was a change man. He saw the benefits of being a kind just commander, only to be heartless against the enemy while fair to his sons and people. His first Imperial Compliance action as leader of the IV Legion was a lightning campaign against the nearby world of Justice Rock. The new recruits served well and the people of Olympia celebrated their triumphant return. In the campaigns that followed, the Iron Warriors proved themselves amongst the most able siege troops in the Emperor's armies.

Pertuabo proved to be a capable commander and a just governor. When conquered a planet he would leave a garrison of selected Iron Warriors to watch over the planet. And every time he did he would speak to the people of the planet, assuring them that it was for their protection and to protect them from threats of aliens or rebels. And this became true, the Iron Warriors would deal swift blows to traitors and invaders, asking nothing from the people of those worlds. However they saw that they were indebt to the Primarch and men would come from everywhere to join the legion. This caused many to become potential techmarines, which the legion greatly used. Soon they began creating their own weaponry from their own resources, now and then trading with the techpriest of Mars. This formed a strong bond between the techpriest and the legion.

When the time came, the Emperor declared that he would be returning to Terra, thus leaving the Great Crusade under the command of the new Warmaster, Horus. Finally the Emperor had chosen Rogal Dorn's legion, the Imperial Fists, to serve as his Praetorian. Pertuabo was upset about the choice since he and Dorn had a rivalry of whose legion was better in the art of siege warfare. Sensing this, the Emperor went up to the Iron Warrior's Primarch and explained that due to the Imperial Fist's floating fortress _the Phalanx_ would serve greatly as a mean of defense for the Emperor and symbol of authority whenever the ruler of Mankind visited worlds or faced against enemies of the Imperium. Pertuabo saw the logic in that and also knew that his father wasn't playing favorites either, so he managed to calm down and focus on the Great Crusade.

During a campaign on an alien world, word reached Pertuabo that Horus had been struck down by a mysterious contagious. Though his life was saved thanks to the efforts of Magnus and Lorgar, he would be unable to lead the Great Crusade. Worse still Guilliman along with Vulkan and Khan had defected from the Imperium and began to conquer Imperial worlds. Pertuabo wanted to go and stop these traitors but his forces were already dug in their current battle and thus could not catch up with the group of legions gathered to stop the rebels. After that Pertuabo received no other news from the Imperium due to Dorn blocking all communications with the loyal Primarchs and other Imperial Forces still loyal to the Emperor.

However just a day after his forces completed their campaign a Strike Cruiser of the Alpha Legion appeared. It was then that Pertuabo had learned what had transpired the entire time; the betrayal of half the legions, who now followed Dorn, the near destruction of four loyalist legions, the death of Angron and how the traitors were heading straight towards Terra. With that Pertuabo and his legion headed towards Terra with all haste. When they arrived the Night Lords and Sons of Horus legions were already on the planet preparing their defenses. The Word Bearers came after the Iron Warriors, with the Alpha Legion stalling the traitors while the last four loyal legions were recovering from their losses.

The Emperor had made Horus the commander of the loyal Imperial Forces on Terra and Horus had put Pertuabo in charge of defending the Imperial Gate from the invaders while Lorgar's Word Bearers assisted him. When the traitors came Pertuabo used every ounce of military tactics that he had to repel the invaders from breaching the gates. Also Lorgar's determination to guard the gate single-handily greatly boosted morale and allowed Pertuabo to divert more forces to other areas of the gate and palace to hold back the Chaos Forces. Pertuabo himself took on Chaos Champions, killing many of them, especially those of the Imperial Fists.

However as more daemons and traitor forces arrived to Terra, it became difficult for Pertuabo to counteract all the attacks from the invaders. In fact the large amount of forces made it possible for Corax's infiltration team to get inside the palace to assassinate the Emperor, though Konrad foiled this plan. The next breach in his defenses was when several drop pods of the Blood Angels managed to get past the AA guns and landed inside the Imperial Palace, but Horus dealt with them and their Primarch, a testament by throwing the Fallen Angel's body down towards the invaders.

After Horus took command of the Imperium, he put Pertuabo in charge of leading the Imperial forces in pushing back the traitors to the Eye of Terror. This was good for the Primarch, as he had gained rage towards the traitors and this was a good way to push them back. He personally coordinated with other legions to push them off their homeworlds. When the traitors finally retreated to the Eye of Terror, Pertuabo insisted that for the good of the Imperium that they pursue them and make sure they were eliminated for good. But Horus rebuffed his suggestion, as they were not able to travel through such wild space, and they had more important things to do.

Horus had created a Codex to separate the legions into chapters in order to prevent a tragedy like this again. Pertuabo voiced against this the loudest, supported by Lorgar and Motarion. Pertuabo said the Horus had no right to such a thing and even called him a failure for not saving the Emperor's life. Another civil war loomed over the Imperium, however thanks to the counseling of Magnus as well not wanting to start another pointless war, Pertuabo finally gave into the Codex Astartes and divided his legion.

A few decades later the new Chaos Warmaster, Sigismund, launched the first Black Crusade. Pertuabo was the one to lead the counter assault against this crusade attacking with vicious fury against the traitor forces. But Black Legion terminators soon boarded his ship, and the result of this left Pertuabo critically wounded by a Plague Terminator and near death, had it not been for the arrival of his legion's first captain, Forrix. The Iron Warriors managed to drive the enemy off their vessel and get the Primarch to the Apothecary. It was thanks to this as well as the timely arrival of Magnus and Lorgar was Pertuabo's life saved from death/corruption. But still, the wounds he sustained would force him to remain on his homeworld until they healed centuries later. Despite that the Imperium was grateful that one of their loyal Primarchs hadn't died.

Despite having a homeworld, they remain a fleet-base legion, with a large force of Battle Barges and Strike Cruisers protecting Olympia. Thanks to their garrisons of other worlds, the Iron Warriors have a healthy number of recruits and can mobilize their forces in a response to threats much faster. They also replace more of their organic parts with bionics, similar to the Iron Hands. They hold a large number of Terminator armor and tanks for their sieges too and have been merciless to their enemies.

Even before being reunited with their Primarch, Perturabo, the Iron Warriors were known for an affinity with technology and the clinical application of logic to military problems. This affinity was channeled by Perturabo, a skilled practitioner of siegecraft, into the mastery of that form of warfare. These abilities were increased by cross training with the Adeptus Mechanicus Their Warsmiths could match skills with Magi and it is said that Perturabo could beat any and all in the art of machine engineering. Their methodical attitude made them merciless men in battle and siege. After the siege works were built there was a choice given to the besiegers; either they throw down their arms then and there or the Iron Warriors would show no mercy. Just like many other legions they soon gained the reputation of brutality during siege, not to mention their merciless manner after the siege took place.

The Iron Warriors Legion is organized into a number of Grand Companies, each commanded by a Captain known as a Warsmith who also act as Chief Techmarines of sorts. Due to the creation of the Codex, there are ten Grand Companies, each one holding a thousand marines. While all marines in the legion are trained in the arts of weaponry and machinery The Warsmiths themselves are all extremely gifted in combat engineering as well as acting as commanders for their forces. Librarians and Chaplains are also trained in the art of engineering as they consider the skill a gift vital to the Imperium's existence.

The Iron Warriors follow a simple method. They commence battle with a sustained artillery bombardment, utilizing every weapon at their disposal. The basis of this is a complex fire plan in which every weapon is directed with utmost care at the optimum target, for maximum effect. Where possible, the Iron Warriors will coordinate with Titan Legions to add to their own considerable firepower. This emphasis on artillery and mechanized warfare means that Iron Warrior forces often fare best in siege warfare and armored advances on enemy territory.

Where possible, field fortifications will be used. Iron Warrior doctrine includes extensive use of fortifications to occupy the maximum number of opponents while using the absolute minimum number of troops. This in turn keeps the bulk of the Iron Warriors Marines fresh and available for assaults, and allows them to achieve superiority elsewhere.

When an Iron Warriors force launches a planetary assault, they begin with an intense orbital bombardment (be it nuclear, plasma, viral or chemical, depending on the battlefield), which could pressure the enemy into surrender without a single Iron Warrior having to land on the surface.

However, stronger, well-defended worlds are unlikely to surrender so readily. If the planetary bombardment is indecisive, a landing force will be launched from the Iron Warriors' fleet. The first wave of atmospheric fighters, gunships, and bomber craft will saturate landing zones and launch raids on enemy bases and supply lines. All efforts are made to demoralize and weaken the enemy to the point of destruction before any troops are landed. Sometimes, however, this hammer-blow approach is unsuitable and instead the Iron Warriors will resort to covert insertion of select Iron Warriors on-world to scout and secure a landing zone in a surprise assault, preferably while also eliminating as much of the enemy's defensive capability as possible.

Once the first wave has caused sufficient damage to enemy defenses (or secured a suitable landing area), a second wave is launched. This consists of construction craft, heavy transports and bulk freighters, carrying supplies, prefabricated fortifications, heavy machinery and construction personnel to the surface. The heavy craft used in this wave are large, well-armored and equipped with formidable defensive weaponry, but still require support in the form of escort flyers from the first wave.

Upon landing, the second wave will compound the damage caused by the orbital bombardment and bomber attacks with a secondary artillery barrage, scattering any enemy forces trying to mount a defensive effort in the area. The larger transport and freighter ships land first, their crews immediately disembarking and beginning the construction of walled trenches, bunkers, living quarters and artillery positions, the latter of which are then filled by the massive weapons brought in by the artillery ships. Selected Iron Warriors with incredible logistic skills will direct this complex and dangerous operation. By the time the third wave is launched, the landing zones will already be fully stocked strongholds.

The third wave is made up entirely of troop transports and orbit-to-ground drop pods. The troops deployed will consist of several hundred Iron Warriors Space Marines backed up by a vastly greater number of lesser troops. Iron Warriors armor will also be deployed at this time. Having occupied the newly-built ground fortifications, the commanders will proceed to plan out the destruction of the remaining enemy forces. Over a period of time ranging from months to mere hours, this formidable Iron Warriors incursion will then engage in a series of lightning-fast strikes, armored advances and carefully-laid sieges, until no enemy resistance remains.

Siege warfare follows a very simple but effective set of general tactics. When a breach has been forced in the enemy defenses it will initially be probed by veterans and infiltrated, then the gap will be pried open with firepower until a storming force can be unleashed. These storming forces are based around fast-moving heavy armor, which can move instantly from relentless barrage to lightning-fast advance. Breaches are then widened until the defenses are shattered. For the key moments in battle when a position absolutely must be taken, the Iron Warriors adopt an ice-cold ferocity that is comparable to that displayed by the Blood Angels or the World Eaters, but only when the moment is right and never for longer than necessary.

In combat, Iron Warriors are terrifyingly adept at both ballistic warfare and close-range melee bloodshed, and use a mixture of the two to slaughter opponents in vast numbers. The typical Iron Warrior is armed with a powerful bolter, plasma gun or other such ranged weapon, as well as a close-combat Power Blade or chainsword.

The Iron Warriors have a special association with Terminators. They have extensive access to the hulking combination of armor, weapons, and Marines, more so than any other Loyalist Legion, and the first observance of the newest Terminator armor was among the Iron Warriors.

The Iron Warriors are expert sappers, engineers and miners and have acquired a formidable siege train of specialist equipment over the centuries. This includes Termite Diggers, a Leviathan transport, assault boats adapted for planetary landings and a large assortment of Imperial-built artillery. These are used very sparingly and are maintained and guarded by the Iron Warriors' 1st Company. Additionally they have a number of Corvus assault pods, which allow them to make use of any supporting Titans as siege towers. This usually makes the Iron Warriors the legion that is frequently working alongside Imperial Titans.

**Well here you go, hoped you all liked this. Next up will be the White Scars. Anyway PM or review if you have any questions or suggestions for me.**

**Wacko12**


End file.
